Peter Tosh With The Wailers

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October[1] 1944 – 11 September 1987) was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement.

Peter Tosh was born in Petersfield, Jamaica with a father and mother too young to take care of him. He grew up raised by his aunt, speaking out for those who could not fight for themselves. Nicknamed 'Stepping Razor', he began to sing and learn guitar at an early age, inspired by American radio stations. After an illustrious career with The Wailers and as a solo musician, he was murdered at his home during a robbery.

In the early 1960s Tosh met Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer through his vocal teacher, Joe Higgs. While perfecting their sound, the trio would often play together on street corners in a Jamaican slum called Trenchtown. Joe Higgs was the man who taught the trio to harmonize. In 1962, he was the driving force[citation needed] behind the formation of The Wailing Wailers with Junior Braithwaite and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. The Wailing Wailers had a huge ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down", and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States of America with his mother, Cedella (Malcolm) Marley-Booker and for a short time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory. He then returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. McIntosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Marley returned from the U.S., and the three became heavily involved in the Rastafari movement. Soon afterwards, they renamed the group The Wailers. Tosh would later explain that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express ones feelings vocally".

Veering away from the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed down to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages. The Wailers penned several songs for the American born singer Johnny Nash before teaming up with production wizard Lee Perry to record some of reggae's earliest hits including "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Small Axe". With the addition of bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton in 1970, The Wailers became Caribbean superstars. The band signed a recording contract with Chris Blackwell and Island Records and released their debut, Catch a Fire, in 1973, following it up with Burnin' the same year.

In 1973, Tosh was driving home with his girlfriend Evonne when his car was hit by another car driving on the wrong side of the road. The accident killed Evonne and severely fractured Tosh's skull. He survived, but became harder to deal with. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, the volatile Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, to whom Tosh often referred with the derogatory play on Blackwell's surname, 'Whiteworst'.